Duke Spears Florida State 100-65

Duke just crushed FSU and it got worse after Cooper Flagg went out with an eye injury

Duke did a nice thing before the game against Florida State started and honored retiring Seminole coach Leonard Hamilton. Then they went out and beat his team by 35.

It really wasn’t much of a game generally speaking but FSU did play quite physically. It was a physical enough game that Cooper Flagg left after about 10 minutes when he got poked in the eye and left the court.

Word got out on X.com that he would not return for the second half, but when the half started, he was on the floor. We’ll come back to that.

Tyrese Proctor was not available after banging his knee up at Miami on Saturday so Isaiah Evans got his first career start. He didn’t shoot well, finishing 6-17/4-13 for 19 points but his defense was solid and you couldn’t say that earlier in the season.

Duke didn’t shoot well as a team, shooting just 43.8% overall and 26.7% from behind the line. Despite that they steadily pulled away from Florida State.

Duke went up 14-4 and when FSU made a run, cutting it to 14-7, Taylor Bol Bowen clipped Flagg in the eye. In Cameron it looked like more of Florida State’s physical play, like they were targeting Flagg.

On video, it’s clear it’s not as Bol Bowen stuck his hand out and just happened to make contact with Flagg’s face.

However, the ‘Noles did play a very physical game that forced Duke to play at a tougher level.

It was the kind of turning point that could have crippled a lesser team. In Duke’s case though, the Blue Devils buckled down without Flagg and were soon up 30-14.

Part of it was that Duke just toughened up and part of it was that the other guys took up the slack. Kon Knueppel, who more typically lets Flagg, Sion James and Tyrese Proctor bring the ball downcourt. Without Flagg and Proctor though, Knueppel picked up some ball handling duties. He wasn’t as quick or fluid as Flagg is, but he was very effective.

In fact, for the entire game, with Proctor not dressed and Flagg only playing 20 minutes, Duke had just four turnovers (Florida State had 14).

And of course with Proctor and Maliq Brown both out and Flagg playing limited minutes, the younger players had to step up. And they did.

Evans didn’t shoot well, which was unusual, but he did just about everything else well. Have you noticed how he has not been an effective penetrator?

He improved a lot in that regard Saturday. It wasn’t even a question about how well he scored on his drives, it was that he wasn’t timid about doing it. It’s another sign that he’s growing up as a player.

Patrick Ngongba showed some different elements on his game as well, defending well and a blocked shot that we’ll bet most people didn’t see coming.

Darren Harris got 17 minutes, which we’re sure is a career high, and shot 3-7 for six points. He also had four rebounds, a steal and an assist and gave Duke fans an idea of what he is capable of.

Caleb Foster didn't have a great game, but as we’ve seen several times lately, his quickness really seems to be back and he’s testing it on a more regular basis.

The Blue Devils were down three players and still took a 47-30 lead into halftime.

When they came out for warmups, we had seen the tweet about Flagg being doubtful for the second half. However, he took part in warmups and as noted, he was in the starting lineup and the Cameron demolition continued.

Duke went up 55-35 with 17:18 left and it just got worse from there. With 14:33 left, FSU had only scored seven points in the second half while Duke had scored 17.

Soon it was 70-45 and there was almost no way Florida State was coming back.

The really impressive thing in this win is that Duke was missing two critical players in Proctor and Brown and Flagg playing limited minutes.

It’s not that FSU is a great team. Clearly they’re an average team.

Even so.

This team managed to not just win but to win impressively with younger players stepping up and many players moving into different roles and with minimal preparation.

With the win, Duke moves to 26-3 and 17-1 in the ACC.

The Blue Devils will see their last home game against Wake Forest on Monday before the traditional season-ender against the Tar Heels.

Notes - Jon Scheyer must be thrilled with how his team is responding to adversity...while FSU’s Jamir Watkins got 21 points, the only other Florida State player to hit double figures was Jerry Deng with 12...Sion James got in some foul trouble and Duke overcame that too... Duke assisted on 17-32 shots...bad three point night, hitting 8-30...however the Devils hit 28-34 from the line, which shows that they turned FSU’s aggressive defense against the ‘Noles...

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